Turkish Press Review - Friday, May 16, 2014

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

All Turkish dailies on Friday focused on the human stories after Tuesday’s blast at the Soma coal mine in western Turkey. Similarly to Thursday, many newspapers displayed a black masthead on their covers as a sign of mourning.

“Humanity mine” headlined the daily AKSAM, which featured heartbreaking portraits of miners who lost their lives in Tuesday’s blast. The paper lauded victims’ and survivors' moral lessons in humanity. Most notable was the interview of the miner who – shortly after being rescued – stunned an already emotional medical staff when he asked if he should remove his soot-stained work boots to prevent them from dirtying their stretcher.

Daily SABAH headlined “Death walk for 1 KM.” featuring Tevfik Gucu, a survivor who managed to get out of the mine by walking underground for one kilometer.

Daily STAR ran with the headline: “Only he is not guilty,” referring to the owner of the mine, Alp Gurkan. The newspaper reported that even though at least 284 people died after the blast in his mine, he had not yet been questioned.

“Solidarity on the Black Day,” headlines the daily HABERTURK. It reported that Turkey’s Chambers Union and a few banks had created funds in order to help the families of miners who lost their lives in Soma.

Daily MILLIYET ran with ‘No one back from shift 2,’ a story about 14 miners from Koseler Village who all went to work together as usual on that fatal day, but never made it back home.

The HURRIYET DAILY NEWS focused on the causes of the disaster headlining “Turkey debates failures behind disaster in Soma,” stating that the nation was asking questions about the death of hundreds in the Soma mine blasts and mentioning allegations of serious criminal negligence at the facility.